


Blocked

by facetiousfutz



Series: Webflix and Compose [2]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-21
Updated: 2017-06-21
Packaged: 2018-11-17 00:42:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11264433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/facetiousfutz/pseuds/facetiousfutz
Summary: Peridot is having trouble writing today, and Lapis does what she can to help.





	Blocked

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 15kisses challenge on Dreamwidth.

Like most days, Peridot could be found inside of the barn indulging in copious amounts of media, fanfics dot net more often than not. Greg, the bearer of all the best earth gifts, got them an even bigger television after the last one broke. Someone had failed to inform them that leaving electronic devices out in the rain resulted in their malfunction, and Peridot made it pointedly clear that gem technology would have never malfunctioned to the likes of rain. Lapis hushed her mid-rant, because Peridot’s manners were poor in this instance. Then she turned to Greg and thanked him, again, for the replacement and the upgrade. 

“Boy, you girls sure do love Webflix, huh?” said Greg with a chuckle. “You might want to ease up a bit, though. Too much TV isn’t good for you.” 

“Tell that to her,” said Peridot, eyes glued to her tablet. “I’m usually too busy establishing myself as the more prolific author of Percierre to be watching a bunch of humans do weird human stuff.”   
“I’m not ready to interact with other humans,” said Lapis. “I’d much rather watch the Webflix simulations. They don’t talk back.”

“That’s fair,” said Greg. “But remember, girls, even if you don’t have to eat, or sleep, be careful how much media you consume in one day. You might wear yourselves out, or get lonely.”

“Nonsense,” said Peridot. “I can’t get lonely. Lapis is right there.” 

“I really want to get caught up,” said Lapis, already fiddling with the TV remote. “Some of my programs are expiring soon. I don’t want to miss the opportunity to view them.” 

“Well, all right. But if it starts to feel like too much, it’s OK to stop and take a breather. See ya later, I suppose. And don’t leave any electronics out in the rain. It’s dangerous.”

“We already know that, Greg the human. It’s pointless to remind us once more,” said Peridot, and Greg gave them one last fretful glance before taking off. “By the way, I see no point in a “breather” device. Gems don’t require breath.”

Greg left before Peridot could finish her rant, though, and Lapis sank right into her latest program. Meanwhile, Peridot ceased ranting and focused her attention on her work, typing away with fury all at once. 

At least, she made the appropriate fast typing gestures. Her fingers produced about seventy-three lines of pure gibberish, unfit for fandom consumption. She erased the whole thing and started over, producing as much substance as before, that is to say, none in the slightest. “Confounded literature. Pour from the depths of my mental capacity! I command you!” 

Another seventy-three lines, this time a simple wall of CLOD, all caps every time, and Peridot’s frustration reached its limit.

“I’ve been robbed!”

“Shh!” said Lapis, lost in her own little world. 

“Sorry,” Peridot whispered. Then she uttered, “someone has robbed me of my ideas. That’s the only logical explanation. I’ve had ideas all day. Ideas don’t just disappear...” 

“Peridot!” said Lapis, annoyed.

“Can’t you see I’m having a crisis here?” said Peridot. “I can’t write!”

“What?” said Lapis, finally pausing her show. “Did your tablet’s keyboard stop functioning?” 

“No. What I mean is that my ideas have gone away. Wait, no, it’s more like they’ve paused? Ah, I don’t know. For some reason, when I type, my story doesn’t come out. It’s like some sort of internal... plug? Barrier?” 

“A block?” 

“YES! That’s exactly it. I am blocked. A writer block, if you will. This must be some mind control. Someone is deliberately sabotaging my work!” 

“That’s terrible,” said Lapis. “How do you think they’re blocking you?”

“That,” said Peridot, her finger in the air at first, but then she drooped and slumped her shoulders while pouting. “I don’t know. Are humans capable of mind control?” 

“I dunno.” 

“Lapis, you’ve lived here thousands of years! How could you not know such a basic thing as that?” 

“Because I spent almost all of it imprisoned in a mirror,” said Lapis, glaring. “You should know. You and Jasper interrogated it out of me.” 

“OK, all right. I get it. I’m... not really able to process and convey rational thought at this time. Perhaps it’d be best if I said nothing at all.” 

“I would appreciate that,” said Lapis, then she patted the spot beside her. “Come watch with me.”

“The vast expanse of my imagination has been severely compromised. This is a very serious matter! I cannot partake in human drivel. It’ll just scramble me up even more.”

“Maybe your mind needs a break, like Greg the human said,” said Lapis. “The Webflix helps me decompress and turn off my thoughts.” 

“But I don’t want my thoughts turned off! Don’t you see? That’s the problem.” 

“To be honest, it sounds to me like you don’t know what the problem is. Relax and watch the television. It won’t hurt.” 

“No!” Peridot persisted.

An hour of pouting and groaning later, Peridot turned her tablet off and decided to join Lapis in her program viewing. 

“I don’t like this one bit,” said Peridot.

“Honestly, I don’t either,” said Lapis, her eyes heavy and drooping. “Usually these shows get good by now, but...” A huge yawn sprung forth, a biological response uncommon in gems, and therefore Peridot could practically feel the boredom. It was even enough to draw the yawn response out of her too, which she only realized as she was doing it, and put an abrupt stop to it, feeling embarrassed and foolish. 

“Ah-ha! I knew this would happen,” said Peridot.

“What? What’s happened?” 

“Don’t you see, Lapis? Greg the human was right. Too much TV is bad for you. Sometimes you have to stop and write fanfictions instead.” 

“But I don’t know how to write fanfictions. I barely have enough of a grasp on the human lexicon and grammatical structures to provide meaningful reviews to your fanfictions.” 

“Trust me, Lapis,” said Peridot. “After some of the poor execution of the language known as English that I have witnessed, your grasp of lexicon and grammatical structures is comparatively sufficient, if not better. What you need is a fandom, and practice. I suggest the Percierre fandom myself.” 

“You think that I should write Percierre?” said Lapis. “I mean, I like it when you write it, but I am unsure of how I can do it as well as you. You draw so much more from that show than I could ever hope to.” 

“You can’t do it as well as me,” said Peridot. “Not in the beginning, I mean. It’s a new skill, so it’s going to take time to grasp that skill in a meaningful way.” 

“I guess that makes sense,” said Lapis. “But I don’t know what kind of fanfiction it should be. A dystopia? An apocalypse? A murder mystery? A psychological horror?” 

“None of those genres fit the Camp Pining Hearts canon, Lapis. Focus! What’s the one thing about that show that stands out to you?”

“Well,” said Lapis. “It is a kissing show. It’s the only kissing show I’ve ever watched, though.” 

“It is NOT just a kissing show,” said Peridot, affronted. 

“You say that a lot.” 

“Well it’s not! You know how the kissing genre irks me. I don’t understand it, and yet, that is the most prevalent theme in the Percierre fandom. It’s even got me wanting to make the next chapter a kissing chapter, but I don’t want to do the kissing chapter because that is cliche!” 

“That’s true,” said Lapis, nodding. “The kissing genres and subgenres are cliche, but lots of things are, and people still manage to make them interesting. I’ve watched no less than two-hundred and forty-six Webflix and TeleU programs and movies that are part of the apocalypse genre, and most of them manage to have a creative spin on what is essentially the same story every time.

“Honestly, Peridot, I think you should write about Percy and Pierre kissing already. It seems like you want to, so why don’t you?” 

“I never said I wanted to!” said Peridot.

“Then why does even the subject of kissing get you so riled up?” 

“Look who’s talking!” Peridot was on her feet now, pointing down at Lapis. “Last month I requested that you kiss me, so that I may gain a better understanding, and YOU were the one that got riled up!” 

“That’s because it came out of nowhere,” said Lapis. “It surprised me in a bad way.”

“Does it still surprise you in a bad way?” 

“Not really,” said Lapis. “It is a subgenre that I see so much on the Webflix in every genre that I’m a bit numb to it now.” 

“I see,” said Peridot, an unfamiliar sensation of nerves and heat building in her core. The closest word she had to describe it was anticipation. “Umm...” 

“If I kissed you, do you think that would shatter your block?” 

“Ahh!!” said Peridot, covering her face. Now she was embarrassed, and there was no logic behind that embarrassment. All things that lacked logic pushed her out of her comfort zone. 

“What?” 

“I don’t know! I don’t... I don’t know!” 

“We don’t have to,” said Lapis. “But, if you think it will help, I am offering to. After seeing it enough times, I’m kind of curious about it now.” 

“OK!” said Peridot, taking in a few deep breaths. “OK. OK, I can do this.”

“Are you sure?” 

“Lapis, please! I need silence. I need... can you? Can you start it?” 

“Oh, umm,” said Lapis, her face alight and buzzing with warmth. “Just, stay right where you are. We should be eye level, I think.” 

“OK.” 

“Yeah, just like that,” said Lapis, and she placed her hands on Peridot’s shoulders. “I’m going to lean in now. Are you ready?” 

“Just do it already! Please!” said Peridot, at the height of her nerves. Lapis complied, planting her lips firmly upon Peridot’s, but there was not much more to it than that. Their lips were touching, one smooth curve of artificial flesh on another, but it felt... off. 

Lapis tried sucking those trembling lips to hers, and found that it felt right. Good, even. A moan escaped her before she even realized it. She didn’t need to increase the pressure to anything above a gentle breath, but she could feel her body flooding with a strange energy, pushing her to deepen the kiss. It was in some ways similar to that which she felt as Malachite, only this lacked the malice and domineering that would have caused her to jerk away at once. Although Lapis was leading and initiating this connection of lips, she felt no need to dominate, or cause Peridot any harm. In fact, if Peridot decided to make her own move, that would be just fine. 

As for Peridot, she had no idea what to make of this. She had nothing to reference. Nothing in Camp Pining Hearts was helping her digest the foreign emotions flooding through her. No words came to her that helped her describe this moment. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t wrong. It was neither good, nor bad. It was non-threatening, yet she felt absolutely vulnerable. It was buzzing, wavy, and somewhat pink. The color pink came to mind, to add to the list of all that was irrational in this moment. Peridot felt like she could do this all day, and she had all day, if that was what she pleased. Once that thought occurred to her, she’d grown comfortable in the kiss. Too comfortable. Peridot backed out of the kiss first, the disconnect bringing her right back to anxiety and the unknown. She was gasping for breath despite having no need of oxygen. She looked warm, perplexed, unsure, and eventually collapsed to her knees beside Lapis. 

“You... must have done it wrong,” said Peridot. 

“What? I most certainly did not!” said Lapis. 

“Then why am I still blocked?” 

“How do you know you’re still blocked? We just finished kissing. Take some time to digest it and then see if you’re still blocked.” 

“I-! Y-! Ugh...” 

Peridot, thoroughly spent, skulked back to her tablet and glared at a blank screen, while Lapis went right back to the show that she hated, zoning in and out. Familiarity, that’s what they needed. Nothing more. Nothing less. Something familiar to bring down the energy, because boy was that a lot more energy than they were expecting. 

“You know. Maybe I can make this a kissing chapter,” said Peridot. 

“OK,” said Lapis. “And maybe I can skip this program and find one a little more interesting.” 

“OK,” said Peridot. “Maybe you’ll find one so interesting that you’ll do fanfictions about it.” 

“Maybe,” said Lapis. 

They were silent for two whole days after that. It would have been longer, but Steven decided to come over. Apparently Greg was still concerned about their media consumption.


End file.
